Partners
by supercarXS
Summary: When Sebastian Castellanos is injured on the battlefield, it's up to Joseph Oda to save his partner's life.
1. Chapter 1

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is kind of shippy, especially in the third/last chapter, but if you don't want to take it as such then you don't have to. But yes, I ship it. Anyway, feedback is greatly appreciated ^_^ _

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><p><strong>PARTNERS<strong>

**_[joseph oda]_**

I'll admit it, I was more than a little skeptical when my partner first handed me the syringe and claimed that it would instantly heal my wounds. I had smiled as I took it from him, saying 'Sure, Seb,' and stashed it in a pocket dangling from my shoulder holsters. But now, let me tell you, I was glad that I had it. It was a hell of a lot better than adding my own body to the dozens littering the landscape around me.

My hand shook so hard on the end of the dual-needle syringe that I was sure I was gonna rip open a blood vessel with the damn thing, but I forced myself to steadily bear down on the plunger. Good God, I swore I could feel the thick greenish goop sticking to the insides of my veins, and I had to look away as I sent the rest of the nasty liquid into my bloodstream. The plunger struck home, signaling that its supply had successfully been emptied into me, and I hurriedly yanked the needles free of my arm. Glass shattered somewhere behind as I tossed the spent hypodermic over my shoulder.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting but it sure as hell wasn't this. The flow of blood from the gaping wound in my forearm steadily slowed until it ceased altogether, and then, right before my very eyes, it began to change. The sticky, yellowish beginnings of a scab formed at the edges before spreading over the exposed muscle like ice claiming the surface of a lake. Fascinated by the display of flesh literally knitting itself back together, I almost forgot I was still in the throes of a battle.

"Joseph! _Move!"_ Sebastian's bellow echoed from outside this shelled-out building, and before I really knew what was happening, my formerly safe hiding spot was suddenly swarmed with a heavy rain of steel.

"Whoa!" I screamed, rolling to the side just in the nick of time. Hot metal tore at my clothes, ripping away at the sleeve of my white shirt but missing my skin. My outturned palm landed in something soft with a disgusting _squelching_ sound. Looking down I realized I'd shoved my hand inside the shattered skull of some humanoid creature unlucky enough to get in my way… but it was still _alive. _The body writhed as its bloody arms reached towards me, fists clumsily grabbing at my waistcoat. Without a second thought to the spears pummeling the ground all around me, I jerked my gloved hand out of its bony entrapment, snagged my axe from where I'd dropped it, and whipped it forward.

In a swift arcing movement, I cleaved what remained of the creature's forehead in two.

Thick, rotting blood painted my shirtfront as I shoved the now-lifeless body away from me, disgustedly swiping my hands on my slacks as I dodged away from yet another volley of harpoons. With horror I realized I'd done a fine job at cornering myself – my shoulder contacted the wall of this shelled-out building, scraping off chunks of brick and char, and I labeled myself as a fucking moron.

The shot rang out from behind me and I ducked forward out of instinct. The harpoon-fire abruptly halted, allowing a heavy blanket of silence to fall over me as I held my breath. I was honestly expecting to be assaulted again but no such attack came.

"Joseph!" Sebastian's voice carried to me and I dared to look up, seeing his familiar figure leaning through the empty windowsill. "You good?"

"Yeah," I breathed, though I knew I didn't look it. I was absolutely smothered in blood, but most of it wasn't mine. I tore my glasses off of my face and ripped my shirttail out of my pants, and satisfied that it was relatively clean, I thumbed away the grime that had accumulated on the lenses before settling the frame back on the bridge of my nose. "You?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm… fine…" Sebastian sort of stumbled back, his silhouette leaving my line of sight as he disappeared behind the wall of the building. That was when I realized that something was very wrong. There was a muffled _thud_ and the sound of him grunting as he fell.

I was up and running. Dodging harpoons stuck in the ground like deadly blades of grass, I threw myself down on the ground beside where my partner had collapsed. He lay twisted behind a stack of bloodstained shipping crates riddled with bullet holes, and as I sought his gaze, I noted that his skin was abnormally pale. Dark bruises purpled the soft flesh beneath his eyes, which were only half-open and feral with obvious pain. His discarded sniper rifle lay just beyond the range of his fingertips. I slid it to him, knowing he'd draw comfort from its proximity.

"Hey, Seb." I spoke calmly despite the panic that boiled in my gut. "Talk to me."

Apparently, I'd been too focused on his face to notice the true cause of his pallor, because he raised a violently shuddering arm and pointed away. I followed his gesture…

"Oh, hell!" I scrambled to my feet and launched myself down on his other side. A metal spear, one that I'd written off as being another missed shot that'd planted itself in the ground, protruded grotesquely from his right thigh. The barbs were buried deep in his flesh and the fabric around its entry point was drenched with blood. It didn't appear to have gone completely through his leg, but still, it wasn't a pretty sight. "Damn it, Sebastian," I murmured as my hand found the stalk of the weapon.

Muscles went taut as the wounded man tensed. He made a feeble grab at me, streaking my wrist with crimson before his hand thumped back into his lap. I pursed my lips and drew my eyebrows together. I knew what he was worried about.

"I'm leaving it there, Seb. Just want a look," I murmured in a soothing tone. I didn't know if the weapon had punctured Sebastian's femoral artery and I wasn't willing to find out. Sickening as it was to see that thing jutting from his leg, we both understood that once the obstruction was removed, it would allow the blood to escape freely. He could bleed out in a matter of seconds. That was a risk I didn't want to take.

Still, there was an alarming volume of blood seeping from the wound. A heavy feeling of dread made itself at home in my stomach as I fumbled around for the buttons on my waistcoat and tossed it to the side before going for my white dress shirt. I didn't even care that I left bloody fingerprints on every fastener, and I cast that to the side as well. Reaching behind my head, I grabbed at my thin white undershirt and jerked it free of my body. Cold air broadsided my bare midriff, but honestly, after the heat of running around in battle, it was a welcome relief.

A practiced motion had my pocketknife flipped out of my pants pocket, the blade glittering in the swiftly fading sunlight. I slashed at the undershirt, stripping it into thin bandages until nothing remained but a pile of scraps. Sifting through them, I tugged out the longest I could find and descended on Sebastian. "Easy," I muttered as I pressed the makeshift dressing to his wounded thigh, causing him to flinch. I pursed my lips and lightly touched a hand to his shoulder before carrying on.

Tightly, but not too tightly, I twisted the slim strip of sliced-up shirt around the entry wound, wincing when even more fresh blood seeped into the clean cloth. I wasn't sure how much the bandage would actually help but I reasoned it couldn't be worse than leaving the gash exposed to the air. Had to be better than nothing, right?

"That should hold for a little," I said, mostly to myself. I turned to look at Sebastian's face and grew even more frightened when I saw that his eyes were closed. "Seb! You still with me?"

"Yeah." His voice was audible, but barely. He was losing color by the second, no doubt a reflection of the blood loss. He coughed and made an effort to speak again. "Do… do you have a…" His sentence was lost to a moan as he repositioned himself on the ground. I tilted my head with a questioning gaze as he weakly thumped the inside of his left elbow with two fingers, face screwed up in pain. What was he…?

"Oh. A syringe," I translated. "I'm sorry, Sebastian. I just used the one you gave me." I lifted my arm to study the partially healed gash, which now appeared sticky and slightly green, not unlike the substance I'd forced into my bloodstream.

"I… had one but… I don't know where…" Seb's voice trailed off again and he let his head fall against the ground. I frowned, jerking my soiled white dress shirt over my shoulders and clumsily doing up the buttons. The fabric slid beneath my gloved hands, slick with Sebastian's blood and God knows what else. I carefully did up my tie before going for my waistcoat. Satisfied that everything was back in order, I stood and smoothed out the wrinkled fabric as best I could.

"I saw a med kit in that barn about a half mile back." I jerked my head over my shoulder. "I was getting shot at so I didn't think to grab it. Should still be there unless one of _them_ took it." I stooped to pluck my black leather holsters from the ground beside Seb's feet and slid my arms through it, tightening the straps at my armpits. Everything was still in place, and I drew my hand cannon. "I'll go see if I can find it. Wait here."

"No." At first I thought Sebastian spoke because he was afraid of being left alone, but looking down as I heard the scraping of wood and metal, I saw that he was nudging his sniper rifle towards me. "Does more damage. Take it."

"You sure?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded and I knelt to pick up the weapon, but not before I'd placed my revolver in his lap. "I'm not leaving you here defenseless. It's got five rounds in it and I don't have any more, so don't go using my bullets."

A weak half-smile crossed his paled face, but it quickly collapsed into agony once more. The white bandage on his leg had started to turn red at the center, so dark it almost seemed black. I was suddenly reluctant to leave him. I couldn't bear the thought of him dying alone, waiting for my return. But, I reasoned, the longer I stood here doing nothing, the more likely that outcome.

"I'll be right back," I said, almost sadly, forcing myself away from his side. Breaking into a jog, I started on my way, slinging the sniper rifle over my shoulders. My axe was still stuck in the head of the creature I'd slain earlier, so I yanked it free and held it firmly across my chest. Sebastian had saved my ass more than once today and it was high time I returned the favor.


	2. Chapter 2

The first two zombies I ran across proved to be no match for my hatchet. One skull was already rolling on the ground before the other realized his buddy had been struck down, and as soon as he started to come after me, I made swift work of dispatching him with a blow to the neck and another to the back of the head once he hit the floor. I decided not to take any chances, so I whipped out a match. Soon both bodies were set ablaze, and I carried on my way.

Zombie. Was that even the right word for those _things?_ 'Zombie' evoked images of mindless undead humans stumbling around without an ounce of free will. But these things… they seemed to have some ember of sentience, small and dim as it may be. I mean, they could fire weapons and were apparently smart enough to rig trip wires that would activate rather sophisticated traps. Sure, they resembled 'zombies' as far as looks go, but I was certain that under the hood, they were very different.

And that scared me.

Unsurprisingly, the landscape - a maze of decrepit buildings, walls, and bridges - was pretty empty. Seb and I had done away with most of the enemy during our initial charge. I was actually glad that he'd gotten injured when he did, at the very end of the battle instead of in the midst of it. Had he collapsed under fire (I shuddered to even think it) it was likely that we both would have wound up dead.

I carefully picked my way over a weathered wooden bridge and tried not to look down. A lot of good I'd do if I ended up splattered on the bottom of that abyss. I wasn't afraid of heights, but something like this was enough to make even the toughest man cringe. Picking up the pace, I decided the less time I spent up here, the better. My feet thunked over the planks and I did my best to quiet the sound, treading carefully until I hit soft dirt on the other side. There was a nicely decapitated body sprawled across the trail. Screwing up my face, I stepped over it before once again assuming a smooth jog.

Darkness was setting fast as the Sun sank down into the seemingly endless expanse of water to my right. I suddenly wished I'd had the sense to ask Sebastian if I could take his lantern. I'd have to tread carefully and hope my eyes adjusted once it really got dark, and I sincerely hoped that I wouldn't be out that long.

Coagulating blood dripped from the end of my axe as it swung back and forth with the movement of my body. I was turning my back on the tower Sebastian and I had battled so hard to get to. I threw a glance over my shoulder at the imposing bastions, wondering if it'd been worth it. As far as I knew, we'd cleared out the zombies tasked with guarding it, and aside from the occasional pocket of two or three, their masses had been significantly diminished and were no longer a dire threat. The problem now was getting Seb healed up enough to make it. I refused to advance all alone. If I was moving forward, damn it, my partner better be with me.

Aw, hell. Where was that barn? Now that I'd made my way over the bridge, my bearings were gone. Funny how you don't take the time to really observe your surroundings when you're running for your life. It all looked different from this angle. Chewing my lower lip, I drummed my fingers over the shaft of the axe clutched to my chest. It… it had been a barn, right? Or was that damned med kit in some other building? Great. Now I was second-guessing myself and Sebastian was bleeding out. Could I make it back to him in time once I did find the syringe? _If_ I found the syringe?

_Stop it,_ I thought angrily at myself. _No use getting worked up._

A nasty snapping sound to my left made me draw up short. Pebbles skidded over the ground in front of me as I slid to a halt, eyes narrowed and scanning. It was getting hard to see with the land cast in deep shadows, and at first I thought it was my imagination… but the more I looked at it the more I realized that one of those shadows definitely _was_ moving.

I was too far away for a successful stealth kill, but too close to warrant the sniper rifle. I crouched low and placed my weight evenly over my feet, hoping to minimize the sound of my footsteps. My demeanor was oddly calm. A single zombie seemed like nothing after mowing through a couple dozen of the bastards, but I also knew I couldn't afford to get cocky. Sebastian had taught me that very quickly when we'd first started working with each other…

Creeping forward, I held my hatchet before me, just in case. So far, the flickering darkness that was the enemy didn't seem to notice me; instead, it was too distracted by its gruesome meal of bloody remains. I couldn't see what creature was being happily munched on and to be honest I didn't care, but I did find myself pitying the poor thing. _What a way to go out,_ I mused, and made a mental promise to myself _not_ to end up like that.

That was when I realized the zombie wasn't facing away from me as I'd originally thought. Tiny, glowing pinpricks of ghostlike pupils snapped in my direction as the body in its hands fell to the ground. Before I knew it, the thing was charging at me, brandishing an axe much like mine. I shot to my feet, swinging my weapon to parry the poorly-aimed blow. The shock radiated up through my arm and gathered in my shoulder, causing the joint to grate painfully against itself. I gritted my teeth and reeled back to return the strike, but when I hit nothing but empty air, I knew I was in more trouble than I thought.

The head of my axe went flying somewhere into the shadows. With horror, I saw that the blade had been sheared clean off, and I was left with nothing but the splintered handle as defense. I thrust it forward, feeling a sort of morbid satisfaction when I felt it connect with cold, reanimated flesh.

As a living man, I had an advantage over the zombie: agility. I spun out of the way as it swung its hatchet at me again, disturbing the air close to my chest. My hands were behind my head, lifting the sniper rifle from its place on my holster. I sent a bullet into the chamber, thumbed the safety off, peered down the sights, and fired.

The creature's head exploded in a fine spray of thickened blood and liquefied brain matter along with bits of yellowed skull and shattered wood. With a disgusted expression, I tucked the rifle back into place across my back before kicking the dead thing's hand away to claim its axe. The scent of blood hung heavily in the air, coating my tongue and the roof of my mouth, and I spat to the side before dragging my relatively clean forearm over my lips. _Will I ever get used to that? _I wondered, spitting once more for good measure before swinging my new hatchet over my shoulder and soldiering on.

_Seb must be real worried now. _I bit my lip. He'd probably heard the sound of the shot, assuming he was still conscious. And he wouldn't like it one bit. He might look and act like a bona fide hard-ass, but trust me, the man had a soft spot. Sometimes I thought the older man put my wellbeing before even his own. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move faster, wanting to get back to him as soon as possible.

The rest of the journey was thankfully uneventful, much to my relief. The building was indeed a barn – I'd remembered correctly after all. Glass shattered over the axe and fell in glittering shards to the ground as I busted out a lower-level window. The barn itself smelled heavily of mold and rotting hay, but honestly, it was a welcome change from the putrid scent of death and blood that permeated everything else in this hellhole.

I had to suppress a whoop of sheer joy when I saw the tin box emblazoned with a red cross glittering in the dimming sunlight. I fell on it and pried it open with bloodstained hands. Inside was a thick syringe attached to a scary-looking needle, filled with that green goop I'd injected myself with earlier. It was a much larger quantity, however. Perfect.

A grin split my features as I slid the tin carefully into a pocket attached to my shoulder holster and fastened it tight.

My mission complete, I spun on my heel and raced back to where I'd left my partner.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

The only excitement on the way back to Sebastian was busting a rung on a ladder and almost plunging to my death, but that was it. I kept telling myself that everything needing to be killed _had_ been killed, but I still couldn't suppress my pessimism. I was always picturing the worst. What if they'd gotten to him before I had and were feasting on his still-living body, eating away at Sebastian – _my_ Sebastian?!

The image infuriated me. So much, in fact, that even when my lungs started to sting and my legs began to burn, I surged forward at a sprint even faster than before.

By the time I reached the forest of spears, I was practically stumbling over my own numbed feet. My breath rasped against my ribcage as sweat rolled down my face and stained my glasses, and I'm sure that to any onlooker I resembled the undead as I dragged my aching body to where Sebastian lay.

I saw him sitting up. He'd hauled himself upright so his spine was resting against the wall. A sickening trail of blood from his leg was painted in his wake. He was sort of slouched over, his head resting uncomfortably against his shoulder while his eyes were closed in his ashen face. For a second, I feared that I'd lost him – the bandage around his harpooned thigh was almost completely red. Blood dripped lazily onto the wooden planks beneath his leg. The scarlet pool grew wider still.

My knees took the brunt of my weight as I crashed down next to his cadaverous figure. "Sebastian!" I cried, cupping a hand under his unshaven chin and turning his face towards me. "I found it – wake up, will you?"

He didn't stir.

"Sebastian!" I screamed again. His skin felt cold… _too_ cold. I began to panic again and – shit, was I crying? I blinked rapidly to disperse the moisture that suddenly weighed heavily in my eyes. The truth was… I didn't know what I would do without Seb, especially not in this hellish landscape. And to lose him like this,_ knowing _he'd taken the hit trying to cover my pathetic ass? It was downright heart-wrenching.

"No, no, no," I breathed. Desperation began to take hold. So I tried the only thing I could think to do.

I hauled back and slapped Sebastian square across the cheek.

"Fuck!" The older detective's head snapped to the side and he stumbled over the word, slurring its single syllable as bloody saliva trickled from the corner of his mouth. His chest heaved and his eyes shot open. Movement in his lap showed me that he was reaching for the revolver I'd left him, and he was clumsily thumbing back the hammer.

"Whoa! Hey, Seb, it's me! Joseph!" I spoke frantically, throwing my hands up in a submissive gesture. He slid me a wary glare, sizing me up, but then his face relaxed and he sagged against the wall. My hand latched to his shoulder to support him when he started to slump to the side again. "You doing all right?" I asked calmly, righting him with a firm grip.

"Gahh…" Sebastian moaned. His forehead creased as his eyebrows drew together. "Just… get this thing outta me…"

"I will, Seb. Hang tight." Any relief I'd felt at finding him still alive quickly eroded back into fear. I had a plan, but honestly, I wasn't sure if it was the best one.

I knew what this serum would do. The flesh would immediately begin to close up as soon as I injected him. But that raised an issue: I didn't want the spear to become permanently lodged in his thigh as his body healed around it. If that happened, I'd have a hell of a time removing it – I'd likely end up cutting it out of him, mangling him worse than the weapon already had.

So, my actual plan was this: work quickly to remove the spear, then rush to inject him before he bled out. In theory, it would work. In reality… well, I guess I was about to find out, wasn't I?

"Bear with me." I peeled back the soiled bandage I'd applied earlier. The dark-haired detective flinched, sucking air through his teeth in pain, and I shushed in an attempt to comfort him. The strip of soiled cloth slid through my gloved hand, warm and wet with his blood. I cast it aside and gritted my teeth.

The lantern was lying on its side a few feet over, so I turned it over and flicked it on, bathing us in a harsh white glow. Sebastian blinked and feebly raised his forearm to shield his eyes from its glare, but his strength gave out and he dropped it back to his side. It was pathetic, really, to watch such a strong man struggle to even lift his own goddamned arm.

He was fading fast. Judging by the bleakness of Sebastian's distant gaze, he knew it, too.

"I'm going to take it out now," I said as soothingly as I could, trying to maintain a calm demeanor. "It's gonna hurt, Seb. Pretty bad."

He nodded.

I tentatively reached towards the spear's shaft that glinted evilly in the lantern's glare. I clasped both hands around it and positioned myself on my knees to lend maximum leverage to my arms, and I found myself hesitating. "You ready?" I asked him quietly.

"Yeah." The word was strained, spat through clenched teeth.

I pursed my lips and took a deep breath. "Alright," I whispered hoarsely. "Here we go."

I'll never forget that tormented cry that ripped from Sebastian's throat as I started pulling on the harpoon as gently as I could. In my peripheral vision, I saw him throw his head back, his skull thudding painfully against the wall behind, jaws stretched wide as he screamed his agonies to the sky.

I didn't like it. Not one bit. "Hold on," I murmured, trying not to let my panic leak into my voice. "You're okay. I promise you're okay. Just hold on, Sebastian…"

Flesh tore beneath my hand as I shifted the spear as delicately as I could. Blood leaked from severed veins. Exposed muscle gleamed as I eased the weapon out of his body. The barbs caught at his skin, causing it to bulge out and shred even more. "Shit," I whispered, wrenching the stalk back the other way. Sebastian screamed again. Oh, God, there was so much blood! It rushed to fill the gaping wound, spilling over his thigh and draining away into the gaps between the wooden planks of the ground.

"Almost there," I panted, more to encourage myself than anything. Sweat began to bead at my brow anew in response to my elevated heart rate. What the hell was I doing to my partner? Was I helping him or just making it worse? I gave one last twist, wincing as I saw the metal catch again, tearing sensitive flesh and widening the alarmingly large hole in his leg. Just a little more. Just a little more and we'd be in the clear…

The spear came free.

I spun the weapon in my hand and violently jammed its bloody point deep into the ground. My palm sank into the shredded flesh left behind in Seb's leg. I swore I could feel the slight pulsing pressure of blood leaving his artery as I bore down on it. My other hand fumbled around as I blindly grasped at the syringe. "Hold on," I repeated numbly as my partner writhed in the throes of agony. "Hold on…"

The needle in my hand glinted as I held it up to study it, debating my best angle of attack.

There was only one problem now - one that I hadn't thought of before. Where the hell was I supposed to put the damn thing? It seemed too large for the vein in the arm, and with the way Sebastian's head was angled, I knew I wouldn't have a straight shot at his jugular. "Damn it," I spat, wracking my brain.

"Chest…"

"What?" My gaze snapped away from Sebastian's neck as I locked on his distant gaze.

"Chest." He repeated the word as though his tongue were numb.

My eyes traveled downwards, falling on his rib cage that stressed the seams of his clothes with every ragged inhalation. And that was when I understood.

He meant for me to inject him in the heart.

I reached out with a black glove, streaking my partner's clothing with his own blood as I tore the knot out of his disheveled tie. When that fell away, I went for his collar. Jugging the syringe, I made a swift downwards motion with my hand. Buttons popped and went clattering away somewhere into the shadows. Unlike me, Seb chose to exclude an undershirt from his daily wardrobe, and I was honestly thankful that I didn't have to fight with another layer of cloth. I finished ripping his dress shirt open and shoved his waistcoat out of the way, exposing the smooth, solid musculature beneath. My palm flattened over his bare flesh as I searched for the best injection site.

_There!_ I made a fist over where his heartbeat felt strongest. Now came the hard part: making sure I aimed correctly. I drew the syringe back, drawing a mental target on his breast. "Alright, Seb," I whispered, unsure if he was listening. "This better work."

With that, I slammed the needle into the older man's chest.

Metal scraped against bone and tore at sinew, making me cringe. My thumb found the plunger and I mashed it down. The greenish liquid rushed into Sebastian's body with a watery gushing sound, and once I was sure that every drop had been emptied into him, I withdrew it.

Sebastian fell silent.

Slowly, hesitantly, I took my hand away from his thigh. My glove hovered millimeters above the wound as I dropped the empty hypo and went for the lantern. Blood glittered as I swung the light forward, illuminating the gash. It still bled profusely, but as I watched, it began to slow, and the fresh stream stopped replenishing the supply inside the gash itself. A sticky, oily scab began to take shape at the edges of the jaggedly torn flesh.

"Joseph…" My name was coughed, mumbled.

"I'm here, Seb," I breathed, daring to remove my hand from the injury's proximity so I could place both on his shoulders. He gave a weak smile, and though he still appeared deathlike in the lantern's ghostly light, I saw some color return to his face and the fire to his hazel eyes. "You're gonna be okay. It's working."

"I know." He was trying to sit up, blinking rapidly with a grimace. "I can feel it."

"Are you in any pain?" I aided him in assuming a more upright position, eyes soft with concern. He still appeared distant. I feared that without me to stabilize him, he'd collapse over onto his side. He looked like he'd been through Hell and back (which, I supposed, wasn't too far from the truth).

But, despite his ailments, he was shaking his head. "No," he said. "No pain. I just feel… drugged."

A sigh escaped my lips. "I have no idea what this stuff is," I muttered, holding the empty hypo at eye level. "But if it works… well, I guess I'll take 'drugged' over 'zombie meal'."

Sebastian laughed and I heard the strength seeping back into his voice. "Not 'zombie', Joseph. Haunted."

My hands fell from his shoulders as I went for the pile of bandages. I tugged one out, and propping up his knee to allow clearance, I began to wind it around his leg. "Haunted?" I questioned.

"Have you seen those goddamned eyes?" He shuddered so hard I thought he'd fall. "Fucking _haunted_, that's what they are."

"Watch your language," I grumbled, but it was all in good humor. I was always needling him about his vulgarity, to the point where it had become sort of an inside joke between us. But while I criticized his foul mouth, he didn't think _I_ cussed enough. Of course, I told him I didn't need to – his use of colorful language was more than enough for both of us.

We lapsed into silence as I worked to dress his thigh. Every piece of my scrapped shirt was used up, and I was more than happy to see the white _stay_ white and not turn red with blood. Now that the drama was over, I began to realize how fatigued I felt. My arms were leaden and my eyelids felt weighed down by sandbags. Stifling a yawn, I knotted off the bandage and neatly tucked in the loose edges.

To my surprise, Sebastian tried to rise. "We need to move," he said in a strained voice. "I want to get the hell outta here."

"Now, wait a minute." I stood up to counter his movements, stalling him with a heavy hand to his shoulder. "You almost _died _– "

He scoffed. "Since when have I let that stop me?"

(This was the Sebastian I was used to handling back in the force.) "Look," I sighed irritably. "I think that most of the Haunted – if that's what you want to start calling them – have been eliminated. The threat's at a minimum. We need to take advantage of this." My voice sharpened, prepared to cut down any feeble argument he might conjure up, a tactic I often used when trying to get him to listen to reason.

He narrowed his eyes, searching me, but after a moment, he dropped his head in defeat. "Fine," he sighed. "We'll rest, but not here. We're still exposed."

"Fair," I said, this time giving into the urge to yawn. My jaws stretched wide and I went to clamp a glove over my mouth, but stopped when I remembered that it had spent some time in a half-rotted haunted brain earlier. I settled for snapping my mouth shut and giving a violent shake of my head to stave off the waves of exhaustion. "Can you walk?"

"Of course," Seb snapped. Then, to himself: "Should've seen me back at that goddamned hospital."

I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just gave a tired shrug and strode ahead of him, lazily weaving through the spears littering the ground. I heard Sebastian breathe in sharply before starting after me. At first I thought that he might actually be able to follow me on his own two legs, but when his uneven steps were punctuated by pained groans, I dropped back. My pace slowed just enough to allow him to catch up to me.

A sidelong glance was thrown in his direction as he limped up next to me, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

_He'll never admit he needs help, will he?_ I thought with a sigh.

I offered my outstretched arm, and without a word, Seb sidled up to me and tucked himself against my body. I became a human crutch, wrapping my arm around his rib cage as I felt his arm drape across my shoulders. He took care not to disturb the weapons slung from my holsters and positioned himself accordingly. I gripped at his side, taking a fistful of his waistcoat. His hand, in turn, dug into my upper arm as he leaned on me for support.

Not a word was spoken between us.

Sanctuary came as a high platform with partially intact walls on three sides and a pile of crumbled brick on the other. I carefully picked the least-difficult passage and directed Sebastian through it. He swayed on his feet, still obviously battling the effects of the drug and blood loss. Neither of us had slept for more than a few scattered hours over the past day, and I knew that certainly didn't help our situation.

Three standing walls meant we could only be attacked from one side. In one corner, the sagging remnants of a decaying roof provided cover from the sky. I tugged Sebastian towards it, pausing only to kick a few shards of sun-bleached bone out of the way. With some difficulty, I bent enough to allow him to slip free of my grasp with his back against the wall, groaning as he sank to the ground.

Blood dotted his bandage, but nothing like it'd been before.

I tugged the sniper rifle from my back and swung it to point. Hastily aiming down the scope, I surveyed the immediate landscape for any sign of danger. When nothing moved, I exhaled before turning back to my partner.

He gladly took back his weapon when I offered it to him and placed it at his side. "This's good," he mumbled, fumbling around for the lamp on his hip. "But I wanna get moving - "

"As soon as you've recovered your strength," I finished sternly. I met his clumsy fingers and undid the clip holding the lantern to his belt loop before setting it on an outcropping of poorly laid brick. "We're _not_ pushing this, Sebastian."

An irritated groan was his response, but other than that, he made no argument.

I did a quick walk-around of our shelter, and only when I was certain that we were completely safe did I allow myself to let my guard down. The empty space next to Seb suddenly looked very inviting, and I found myself stumbling over to him. I took my place beside him, crossing my forearms over my stomach. My hand traced the edge of my revolver's holster, and I undid the fastener – just in case I had to make a quick draw. The sniper rifle sat between us, also within reach.

Beside me, I heard Sebastian sigh heavily in his throat. A protective hand was curled around his bandaged thigh. His mind began to close down on him, and I watched him start to sag to the side, his back scraping against the decaying bricks. His body tilted as he exhaled and his shoulder contacted mine. I shifted so I could comfortably take his weight and stared blankly into the darkness.

"Ah, hell." I felt Seb's shoulder dig into my bicep as he shoved away from me. Dark hair dripped in front of his eyes as he violently shook his head, and he reached up to push it back. "Sorry," he mumbled.

I chuckled. "No need."

Puzzled eyes met mine, but he was quickly distracted by a wince as his fingers caught in a tangle at his scalp. Frowning, he busied himself with tugging on the knot, breaking eye contact.

"It's fine. If you want to lean on me, you can." I smoothed the dirtied sleeve of my white dress shirt before carefully flattening out my waistcoat's lapels. "I promise not to complain." And when he arched an eyebrow at me, I couldn't help but grin. "Not too much, anyway."

There was no mistaking the warmth of genuine gratitude that lit up the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. He blinked at it was gone, replaced by his default surliness. He said nothing. The snarl in his hair came free, and he dropped his arm back to his side, blinking slowly. Fatigue was catching up to him. (He'd just never admit it.)

I was slowly losing the fight against the urge to nod off myself. My eyes began to drift closed behind my glasses. _We've still gotta get to that tower,_ I thought groggily. _See if we can't figure out what to do from there. I hope we don't have to fight. Ammo's so damn scarce around here… _

Beside me, Sebastian began to doze. I knew because his stocky frame slumped and his head dipped towards his chest.

The landscape was blissfully quiet, almost peaceful. I would have called the moonlit scenery beautiful had I not known what horrors hid within it. If I listened hard enough, I could hear the lapping of waves on the lake. Crickets became white noise that successfully lulled me. Hard to imagine that less than eighty minutes earlier, I'd been engaged in the ultimate fight for life.

That was when Sebastian tentatively allowed his head to rest against my shoulder and his arm to press heavily against mine. When I didn't pull away, he settled even more, breathing out heavily as pent-up tension leaked from his battle-weary body. His relaxation was contagious. I was vaguely aware of the night's droning and the radiation of heat from Seb's body. His presence was oddly comforting – especially with the knowledge that I'd almost lost him today.

Only when his breathing slowed into the steady rhythm of slumber did I realize that I was missing something.

_My axe!_ The thought was the one of the last that would cross my mind that night. I knew exactly where I'd dropped it, too. It'd left my hand, abandoned in favor of Sebastian.

_A damned axe_, I realized after a moment, _can be replaced. _

_A partner, however, cannot._

* * *

><p>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for reading. I had a lot of fun writing from Joseph's perspective. Keep an eye out - I might decide to write from his POV again! ;) Hope you enjoyed this story. Comments are always greatly appreciated ^_^<p> 


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